Marketing And Policies

Go to SETUP | SETTINGS |MARKETING AND POLICIES to set up payment guarantees, deposit/cancellations terms and the messaging that will appear on your website and GDS. These can also be inserted into your Letters as merge fields and the information will automatically appear.

These settings affect what payment terms and required from guests when booking online, the cancellation policies and the terms that will appear to guests when booking. Although most of these are primarily for your website, there are a couple of settings that do effect the Front Desk and GDS Bookings. These fields are labeled with (Front desk) and (GDS). If you are using an XML or partner Booking Engine (such as Odysys, buuteeq, Easy InnKeeping, BookingSuite, etc) as your interface, then much of this information is controlled in your their interface. See Property Profile Website and GDS and System Setup

To edit the Settings here, click Edit at the lower right of the screen, make changes and then click save. See image below.

For details on each section and how to Edit the information, see the links below.

To see the details of each section, click on the title and a list will expand:

Bookings at my property require... - This setting determines how online bookings will be required to pay when they are made. If you require a deposit or credit card guarantee, use the settings below. (GDS)

no deposit: Does not require a
credit card guarantee: checking this box will require the guest to enter a credit card information when booking. If you require a deposit, then use this information to make deposit in the Guest Folio.(GDS)
1-night deposit: this setting will automatically
percentage deposit of %

Guests must confirm at least (days in advance)
Minimum Booking Lead Time (hours in advance) Enter your minimum booking lead time in HOURS (24 hr increments). For example, 24 hours = 1 day, 48 hours = 2 days , etc.
Note, for any OTA that you have a direct relationship with - Booking.com, Expedia, Priceline, etc - this value will NOT ‘flow over’ to the OTA. The only systems that this "Minimum Booking Lead Time“ can seamlessly is the BookingCenter Booking Engine/GDS/Pegasus systems. All OTAs and other travel systems you have a direct contract with MUST be setup to enforce your Minimum Booking Lead Time policy in the system itself. For example, if you have a contract with Booking.com, you must set your Minimum Booking Lead Time in Booking.com, as BookingCenter will not send these values. We always recommend to TEST the OTAs setting for after requesting it from your market manager, as that will prove it was set properly.

Cancellation Policy – if you tick this box, a menu appears below the calendar so that guests can see availability for specific Room Types. Useful for properties with many room types, or properties where each room type is a unique room such as a Vacation Rental or a B&B with theme rooms.
Cancellation Type: Don't prompt for number of guests on enquiry page – Every Room Type has a Maximum Capacity. If you prompt for 'the number of guests' on the enquiry page, then results will be limited to Room Types with capacity to match the number of guests. In fact, guests often book several rooms; if you limit the available options to rooms that match the group capacity then you may miss out on bookings. For example, 4 people may prefer to book 2 Double Rooms (max capacity 2) rather than a Family Room (max capacity 4).
Allow cancellations within the penalty period – This flag determines if the booking engine exposes Guest Types during the booking process.
where X is (hours / days / time)
Cancellation Amount

Smoking Policy

The booking system holds enough information about your property to build a mini-website. This information may be linked to some agent websites. This information is also used to complete listings on GDS websites like Yahoo Travel, Orbitz, Expedia and others. Please complete this information to the best of your ability.

Deposit, Confirmation, and Cancellation Policy Message(GDS) – explain in 'your own words' policies for advance deposits, conditions for cancellations and refunds and any special conditions specific to your property. Be sure to tick the box, "Guest Must Agree to Terms", in Booking Engine Settings if you want the guest to confirm they agree to your terms.
*Tip Confirmed Bookings vs. Enquiries - if you are not able to provide immediate confirmation for bookings then you should include a statement in your terms and conditions that 'all bookings must be confirmed before they are final'.
This Policy Message displays on the confirmation screen, phone or fax form, on the Site Profile page and GDS listings, at the bottom of the guest booking confirmation e-mail, and in the guest booking details.

Restrictions – Displays a small message on the first enquiry screen to warn guests of special conditions.
Please note that it is forbidden to place phone numbers, website addresses or e-mail addresses in any description except the 'Thank you for Booking Message'. If you are listed on the GDS, it is forbidden to use html tags.

Site Description (GDS)
Marketing Message (GDS)
Location Description (GDS)
Customer Reviews
Driving Directions (GDS)
Registration Message – not used, please ignore.

"Thank you for Booking" Message – this message appears at the top of the automated guest booking confirmation e-mail. This is a good place to include a contact phone number along with a personalized message.

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